Frictional igniter



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 2l, 1959 P2 Fg.7 N

Z auf Mm mi n@ Aug. 21, 1962 T. RUETZ FRICTIONAL IGNITER Filed Oct. 2l,1959 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 5 meaefwm United States Patent O 3,049,902FRICTION AL IGNTER Theodor Ruetz, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland Filed Oct.21, 1959, Ser. No. 847,747 Claims priority, application Germany June 1,1959 4 Claims. (Cl. 67-6.1)

This invention relates to an igniter, particularly of the pocket type,being principally characterized by a flint which is turnable about anaxle, rests under spring pressure against the friction-wheel and isautomatically readjusted by the latter to take up its wear.

Further features of the invention will appear from the followingdescription and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, wherein there is shown, purely by way of example, one form ofembodiment incorporating the invention.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a part of the igniter takenon line I I of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows showing the partsin dot and dash lines in the position after actuation,

FIG. 2 is a top view of the igniter with the coverremoved and withcertain parts in section,

FIG. 3 is a side View partly in section showing details of the base ofthe igniter,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the int disk and associated parts,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V of FIG. 1 taken in thedirection of the arrows and showing the detail of the cylinder and itsplunger and FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken on line VI-VI of FIG.1.

According to the embodiment shown, a bushing (FIG. 2) is loosely mountedon a circularly sectional axle 1 which is journalled in anges 29 (FIG.3) of the sidewalls 30 of the lighter container. On said bushing the-flint 3, in the form of a disk, is loosely supported -by a square. Alsoloosely supported on another square of the bushing 2 is a wormwheel 4.The flint disk 3 and the wormwheel 4 are connected for rotation with thebushing 2 through the corresponding squares thereof. The wormwheel 4 isin mesh with the worm 5 which extends through the hollow shaft 5a. Theend of the shaft 5a forms one member 6 of a claw coupling, whose othermember is 7. The latter is carried by a pin 8, one end of which isslidingly supported in an axial thrust ballbearing 9, the other end 8bresting in the hollow shaft 5a. The pin 8 includes a collar 8c, on whichbears a spring 10 that engages at its lower end the coupling member 7.

Another spring 11 bears at one end on the lower extremity of the pin 8and at the other end on the axial thrust bearing 9. The spring 10 hasthe tendency to press the coupling member 7 into the coupling member 6.At their faces, the coupling members 6 and 7 are provided withcorresponding claw teeth 6a, 7a (FIG. 3). The entire shaft system 5, 6,7, and 8 is axially displaceable and rotatable. The spring 11 steadilypresses the ilint disk 3 through the whole shaft system 5, 6, 7, 8 andwormwheel 4 against the friction-wheel 12 (FIG. 1) in the sense of thearrow P. For this purpose, the flint 3 has a peripheral recess 13through which the iiint 3 rests on the friction-wheel y12.

The wormwheel 4 and the shaft system 5, 6, 7, 8 with the springs 10, 11constitute a part of a mechanism which, upon actuation of the igniter,always readjusts the flint 3 to take up its wear, the arrangement beingsuch that upon actuation, the mechanism each time tends to readjust theflint 3 to an extent which is greater than the amount of its wear. FIG.1 illustrates the flint 3 after an amount of wear.

3,049,902 Patented Aug. 21, 1962 For the rest, the readjustmentmechanism is designed as follows:

The coupling member 7 designed as a sleeve has a bifurcated extension 14into which the pin 15 of a plunger 16 projects (FIGS. 1 and 5). Theplunger 16 is slidably supported in a cylinder 17 against a spring 18.The plunger 16 has an extension 16a which protrudes through an openingin a wall 19. The space 20 which houses said mechanism, adjoins the mainwall 21 of the lighter. The whole mechanism for automaticallyreadjusting the flint 3 is attached to said main wall. In order otprevent retrograde motion upon actuation of the coupling 6, 7, a lateralextension 34 of the wall 21 accommodates a spring- 36-biased pawl 35that engages the toothed portion 5a of the worm 5.

The coupling 6 is provided with teeth not only on the end adjacent thecoupling part 7 but also on its periphery. On the Awall 21 there is ahousing 34 secured thereto in which a bolt 35 is mounted longitudinallymovable therein. Under the inlluence of a spring 36 one end of the bolt35 is in gripping contact with the teeth on the periphery of thecoupling part 5 in order to form a ratchet which will lock the spiral 5against rotation in one direction. The spiral 5 can only rotate in thedirection in which the disk 3 may rotate in the direction of the arrowP.

In a casing part 22 there is provided the control mechanism foractuating the friction wheel 12. This mechanism is of :the usualconstruction and is thus only described to such an extent which isnecessary to understand the invention. The friction wheel 12 is mountedon an axle `12a which is secured in anges 19a of the wall 19. `On thewall 119 there is secured an axle 24 around which a single-armed lever25 swings. A cover 23 which actuates the lighter is connected with thelever 25 with the aid of an axle 26. One end of a spring 27 grips theaxle 26 while the other end of this spring is suspended from a pressedout part 19b of the wall 19. On the axle 12a of the wheel 12 there isfurther provided an oscillating cover front part 28 which in knownmanner is coupled by a link operator to the friction wheel 12. By meansof the lever pin 12b the cover 23 is connected with the cover front part28. 'Ihe parts 12, 12a, 12b, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and y28 togetherform a unitary structure which is known and is utilized in manydifferent types of lighters.

These parts are associated with the usual lighter by a screw connectionconsisting of a screw bolt 37 and a nut 38 so as to be removable. Thescrew bolt 37 is secured in the Wall 21 with the nut 3S rotatablyprovided in the Wall 19 of the lighter. The diameter of the nut 38 issomewhat larger than the width of the lighter casing 30 and extendstherefore out from two opposite slots 30a in the container wall and thusthe nut may be actuated by the fingers of one hand. In FIGS. 2 and 3 thelighter mechanism has been removed, but FIG. 2 shows in dot and dashIlines the position of the nut 38 when the lighter is completelyassembled.

The operation of the lighter is as follows: when the cover 23 is pressedin the direction of the arrow P1, FIG. l, the cover 23 will shift in theposition of the dot and dash lines 23a, whereby the lever 25 will assumethe position of 25a and the pin 11212 in the position 112C, so that thefront cover part 28 will move in the direction of the arrow P2 to thedot and dash line position 28a in the open position. Simultaneously thefriction wheel 12 will be rotated whereby the igniter wheel 3 will beactuated to produce a shower of sparks and ignite the lighter wick.

By actuating the lighter or friction wheel mechanism in theaforedescribed manner, each time the cover 23 is actuated, the extension16a and thus the plunger 16 is pushed into the cylinder 17 andincidentally the coupling member 7 is turned through the distance of onetooth by the pin 15 and fork 14; the pawl 35 locks the coupling part 6against rotation upon release of the cover, it returns into its positionof rest, whereby the plunger part 16a follows under the action of thespring 18 and takes along with it the couplingr member 7, which causesthe member 6 and hence the shaft 5 and wormwheel 4 to move in the senseof pressing the flint 3 against the friction-wheel 12. Since the angularmovement of the shaft by one tooth corresponds to a greater path thanthe amount of wear of the flint 3, the shaft system S, 6, 7, and 3 movesback in the axial direction and tensions the spring 11, when the openingor actuating of the lighter is repeated several times. When uponfrequent switching, the end pin 8a of the shaft 8 abuts on the bearingend 11b, the plunger extension 16a dwells in the lower position, sincethe friction in the system is so great that the spring 18 can no longermove the plunger 16 in the cylinder 17. Also in this lower position ofthe plunger extension 16a, the cover 23 may be freely actuated or movedfor the purpose of igniting the lighter.

The axle 1 with the flint '3 and wormwheel 4 can be assembled anddisassembled in a simple manner. For this purpose, the main wall 21(FIG. 3) which represents the container cover, has attached thereto twoflanges 29 which are in close contact with the corresponding sidewalls30 of the lighter. The flanges 29 have openings 31, one each, which formthe bearings of the axle 1. The axle 1 itself possesses, at each of itstwo ends, a pin 1a, lb milled on both sides, with which they can beintroduced into the openings 3i. A lever 32 is fast with the axle 1through a pin 33 (FIG. 2). 1f the axle 1 is insented with its ends 1a,1b into the openings 31, it can be turned through 90 by the lever 32, sothat the axle ends 1a, 1b will occupy the position shown in FIG. 3, inwhich the axle 1 is locked.

It is understood that, instead of the claw coupling and the spring 111adapted `to serve for storage, also a usual slip coupling may beprovided, whereby a spring equivalent to the spring would have to takeover the constant pressure of the flint 3 against the friction-wheel.When the worm drive 4 and 5 is self locking as to the thread angle, thenthe parts 34, 35, and 36 may be omitted. The coupling part 6 does notrequire to be provided with teeth on its periphery.

FIG. 6 shows the friction wheel 12 on the left side provided withgrooves Il2. which cooperates with a spring disk 12" mounted on the axle12a. The leaf spring is mounted on the axle 12a but abuts against thecover 23. The spring 12 has a projecting part which cooperates with theside grooves 12.

The operation of the friction wheel appears to be quite obvious fromFIG. 6 and it is quite evident that in one movement, that is the openingmovement of the lighter, the cooperation of the spring i12." will permitrotation of the friction wheel 12 whereas in the corresponding movementof the lighter case, the spring and its detent is such that the springwill hold ithe friction wheel to prevent rotation thereof. Thus thefriction wheel will only rotate in the clock-wise direction as indicatedby the arrow in FIG. l.

Through the invention an ignited is created which, as compared withembodiments of the type known heretofore, allows considerably moresparkings or ignitions to be made with the iiint.

It is understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merelyby way of illustration and that other variations may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit of the appended claims.

Whatl claim is:

l. An igniter comprising an axle, a disk-shaped flint rotatably mountedon the axle, said ilint having a peripheral recess, a second axle, afriction wheel rotatable on the said second axle parallel to that of thedisk-shaped flint, said friction wheel engaging said recess in theflint, and a spring biasedmeans adapted to turn said flint to maintain aportion of said recess in contact with said friction wheel.

2L An igniter according to claim l, in which means are provided tocompress said spring means upon each actuation of the igniter.

3. An igniter according to claim l, in which the spring biased meansincludes a worm wheel and cooperating worm, said disk-shaped flint beingconnected with said worm wheel and said worm wheel engaging the worm,said spring biased means including spring means, said worrn beingaxially movable under the action of said spring means, and in which aclaw coupling means is provided in communication with said worm andmeans for actuating the claw coupling.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,779,l79 Smith Jan. 29, 1957

